Metro Manila (2013)
Looking for a brighter future in metropolitan Manila, Oscar Ramirez and his family leave their miserable life in the rice terraces of Banaue, in the northern Philippines. In the sweltering capital, where all kind of perils lurk in every corner, Oscar catches a lucky break when he is offered a steady work for an armored truck company and the senior officer Ong takes him under his wing.
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To me, this movie is perfection.
The Age of Commercialism
Highly Overrated But Still Good
Fantastic!
As a Filipino, I'm used to our films with very predicting scenes and ending. Most of the time, we do not have the chance to be awed by our movies. This one is different. It is a mirror to our society and a showcase of Filipino talent. The acting of Mike Arcilla (as always) is exceptional. At first, you would find it boring but just be patient and you will be delighted.
I really enjoyed this film because although majority of the film wasn't action, which is something I usually prefer, there was still this weight that you could feel sitting on Oscars shoulders throughout the entire film as he battled to support and care for his family. I really enjoyed how the constant feeling of desperation forces Oscar's hand in many decisions and eventually ends with his demise.
I liked the film Metro Manila. It showed the power struggle of being desperate for money. Money is needed for many things. For example, Oscar and his wife, Mai, needed it for health care, food, housing, and providing for their family. These are some very significant things that are important for survival. Throughout this film, it showed Oscar being tested to his limits to provide and protect his family. It showed how far a man can go for his family. Corruption was also a big part of this movie. This was shown through the people living in the city and the city itself. It shows the amount of poverty in the Philippines and the struggle it can be to find jobs. The characters played their roles very well. It was like we were watching a documentary more than a movie because you could connect with the characters through their struggles.
METRO MANILA is a fine movie indeed, a wonderful character study that explores real life on the grim and gritty streets of the Philippines. It tells an age-old story of corruption and wasted lives, and yet it's so very well made that you can dismiss the familiarity of the storyline and simply get caught up in the compelling narrative.The movie stars the excellent Jake Macapagal as a mild-mannered family man who moves to the city in order to provide for his wife and kid. Unfortunately, he soon discovers that the population of this urban metropolis isn't to be trusted, and he's led into a sinister plot through no fault of his own. METRO MANILA is a very slow film indeed in which little happens, and yet there's overriding suspense, a sense of futile inevitability, which makes it absolutely gripping.The production values of the movie are strong indeed, and the performances are naturalistic in the extreme. For a guy whose previous experience of Filipino cinema has been the '60s B-movies of Eddie Romero and his ilk, this film's a real eye-opener; a gutsy piece of film-making, grittily realistic and yet full of heart, a film that can stand against the best competition coming from its neighbouring countries.